Combat Healer Ch. 29 (BOOK 3) (Patreon)

January 8, 2023

NOTE: This chapter is almost 8,000 words long! It will be the beginning of Book 3.

Hope you enjoy!

<< Chapter 28 | Ch 1 (Book 1) | Ch 15 (Book 2)

--- BOOK 3 ---

- CHAPTER 29: Monsters -

Present Day

A very muscular elf with graying hair and slate eyes stepped out of the brightly lit chambers into the dimmer hallway, having no fatigue despite the late hour, feeling sincerely amazed by the short conversation he’d just shared with the former Queen.

Her resolve.

It was still there.

The strength in her eyes, the determination to persevere, still very much present.

Even when she arrived at the castle, earlier in the morning just at sunrise, he expected her to protest the Trials, and yet she had an entirely different response.

“It has come to my attention that there has been a challenge for the throne, and that the Trials of Resolve are underway. I will make preparations and begin the process to reclaim the throne immediately.” Her tone then grew hard. “And when I succeed, there will be hell to pay.”

General Vildred shivered at the idea in pure excitement, feeling more alive than he had in nearly ninety years, sincerely looking forward to it.

Would she execute Lord Vizen?

Legally, she had no right to, but previous Rulers had always found ways to eliminate their political opposition. Perhaps the Queen would even learn from this experience, since she wouldn’t have been in this predicament if she’d been more shrewd with that particular man, prior to the challenge being issued. Certainly, there was plenty of corruption she could have uncovered, if so inclined. And especially since Lord Vizen had been plotting against her for decades now, slowly poisoning many of the nobles against her, and was just looking for an opportunity like this.

General Vildred still believed the Queen’s previous actions foolish, but he would never deny strength when he saw it staring him in the face.

He still had no idea how the hope, that he’d seen previously, related to the Healer boy, knowing it must be somehow related since she’d exposed her feet to him, and gone into battle with him. However, without a doubt, the hope Vildred thought was a weakness had instead shifted into the resolve he’d always known her for.

She’d still break though.

Eventually.

Everyone always broke before the end.

And he was thrilled to see it.

That moment when she snapped.

The moment when she gave up.

The moment when she was overcome and yielded to her weakness.

Perhaps Lord Vizen might still win the throne, in which case, the Head of the Guard looked forward to that eventual outcome as well. To see both the shame in the former Queen’s expression, and to watch the light fade from her eyes when she was eventually executed. Or perhaps even something worse than execution, something far more humiliating…or so the rumors went.

And if instead she succeeded, then he was eager for the hell she promised.

Eager to see if she came up with a way to punish her challengers.

To finally show her worth, as the Ruler of their elite race.

Only time would tell.

And for once in a long time, he was excited to see what the future held. Being well-established as a neutral party in all of it, he had ringside seats to the spectacle that would soon unfold.

General Vildred could hardly wait.

* * *

Nothing was as it should be.

After barely escaping the Cursed Dungeon, I knew there would be struggles ahead, but this was too much. Queen Eliza shouldn’t have to suffer the Trials of Resolve again to keep the crown. The conceited elves in her court shouldn’t be trying to keep us apart. Mel, Val, and I shouldn’t be in a cavern of bloodthirsty monsters, about to face death. And most importantly…

Most importantly…

I shouldn’t have to feel helpless to do anything about any of it.

I wouldn’t feel helpless.

I’d just decided that right now.

I refused.

Having felt uneasy and itchy for a while now, Wren had torn off both my clothing and molting skin, revealing that her plan to save me, involving the insertion of a Monster Core in my body, had done far more than just keep me alive.

Far more.

It had taken twenty-one years since my death…

But I’d become like her.

A monster.

A hybrid.

A perfect copy of myself…

As a powerful doppelganger.

My entire body had crunched as my shoulders, chest, arms, and legs swelled, tearing my pale skin to reveal thicker midnight skin beneath, my torso elongating, growing taller, as I felt my very bones thicken.

Thicken with raw power.

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NEW EVOLVED RACE: Human/Doppelganger (Hybrid)

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NEW CLASS (UNLOCKED): Hexer

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NEW FOCUS (UNLOCKED): Berserker

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NEW LEVEL THRESHOLD: 55

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NEW SPELL: Confuse

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NEW SPELL: Charm

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NEW SPELL: Inflict Curse (Plague)

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NEW SPELL: Inflict Curse (Decay)

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NEW SKILL: Transformation 1 (Human)

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NEW SKILL: Transformation 2 (Doppelganger)

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NEW SKILL: Shift

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NEW SKILL: Adapt

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NEW SKILL: Pain Immunity

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NEW SKILL: Berserk

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Wren tore off what remained of my molted skin, tore off what remained of my clothing, revealing what lie beneath.

An exact copy of myself, except no longer human, as I could see in her mind.

A gray face, midnight skin.

Bright red eyes, set against a midnight background. Pupils narrowing into slits.

Bigger.

Taller.

Stronger.

Raw power, incarnate.

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Allister Rosengard (Evolved)

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STATUS

Race: Human/Doppelganger (Hybrid)

Gender: Male

Age: 21

Class: Healer/Hexer

Focus: Essence Diviner/Berserker

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ATTRIBUTES

Strength: 25 (Lv. 10)

Dexterity: 21 (Lv. 9)

Fortitude: 25 (Lv. 10)

Wisdom: 24 (Lv. 10)

Intelligence: 24 (Lv. 10)

Charisma: 12 (Lv. 6)

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Total: 131

Rank: SSS+ Tier (Evolved)

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Level: 55/55

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Dual class.

Something never heard of before.

Spells to Heal.

Spells to Curse.

A face that was friendly.

A face that was terrifying.

Hands that were safe.

Hands that were lethal.

A body to bring life.

A body to enforce death.

I was now life and death, incarnate.

Wren gripped my hands tightly as my fingers began elongating into midnight claws, her tone affectionate.

“You’re a monster like me now,” she whispered intensely. “Finally. Now, let’s go be monsters together,” she said with a giggle…

Biting her gray lower lip tenderly…excitement in her slitted crimson eyes…

Her tone seductive…

“My master.”

Strength, power, and pure elation filled my chest as I rose with my shorter companion, turning my crimson gaze to our prey, a room full of them. Some of them very large.

Balphors.

Like massive wildcats, each larger than a dozen grown Oni men combined, having bat-like wings instead of front legs, along with feline faces that were elongated more like a wolf than cat. Body long and slender, covered in midnight fur, claws like the talons of a falcon springing from their feet.

I grinned as my legs tensed, my midnight thighs bulging, ignoring the looks of shocked horror on Mel and Val’s faces as the tension in my legs exploded.

Instantly, I was soaring high through the air deep into the cavern, my arms and legs stretched wide, literally feeling like I was flying, as the maniacal laughter of a demonic elf girl trailed behind me.

I landed on my first massive prey just before her, the two of us abruptly slicing and dicing with our claws as she continued to laugh hysterically in excitement, the Balphor’s right wing severed from its body before it even managed to get its feline jaws around to try to bite us in two.

But we were already on its back, digging and shredding as our prey soaked us in its dark blood, coating us both in layers upon layers of death. And then, even before ensuring it was dead, I was leaping in the air, bolting high toward the top of the cavern for the next one clinging to the rocky walls, hearing the first behemoth below me smash into the ground from the force of my kick as I soared right into my next victim.

I could hear the shrieks of the first now far below, echoing loudly in the Dungeon, and yet the sound only excited me more, knowing it would die very slowly as we made our way through our prey, one-by-one, the two of us ensuring we only did enough damage to each one to give them a slow painful death.

Wren was still laughing maniacally, bouncing around with me from behemoth to behemoth, making our rounds to all thirteen of them, having the time of her life, even as my own thoughts remained focused at the task at hand, my mind otherwise empty.

Death.

Blood, and gore, and death.

Suffering.

Inflicting as much suffering as possible.

For no reason, other than because I desired it.

It wasn’t until someone’s voice called out to me that I felt a pull on my attention as I dug my claws into the back of one massive beast, having decided I wanted to find it’s heart, not to rip it out, knowing the pulsing organ was likely larger than my entire body, but only to expose it before moving on to the next victim.

“Allie!” a woman yelled.

I paused what I was doing to focus briefly in the direction of the sound, realizing that hundreds of blue and red arrows had been sent in all directions, Barrage and Phoenix Judgement both used at least twice each, but seeing that there were far too many enemies to even put a dent in the flying horde.

A Red Oni and Holstaur were attempting to fight off the massive throng of cat-sized Voice Reapers that were swarming around them, the former’s bright orange flames now hardly visible through the thick layers of lesser creatures, the flames barely holding them off for the moment, but also burning her companion in the process.

Desire swelled up in my chest, a desire to invoke fear, a heat radiating through my core…

ADAPT activating.

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NEW SKILL: Terrify

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DESCRIPTION

Level: 1/1

Type: Innate Active

Effect: Intimidate weaker creatures and cause them to panic.

Race Bonus: Extremely effective against monsters and animals.

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The heat continued to build until it reached my throat, my pointy serrated teeth separating, my jaw opening wider than I was used to as I let out an earthshattering roar, the sound of a thousand demonic wolves growling at once, their snarls overlapping into a horrifying warning of impending doom.

Instantly, all the Voice Reapers in the cavern, including those still clinging to the walls, spurred to life in a panic, all of them urgently flooding the large tunnel we’d come from, fleeing the space now.

Just like that, not a single one’s attention was on the two others.

I tore off a chunk of bone in the ribcage I was digging in, beginning to activate a familiar spell.

‘Imbued Spell, Heal’

I tossed the piece of bone as hard as I could across the expansive distance.

She never saw it coming.

It smacked her in the forehead, the busty Holstaur cracking her head against the wall behind her and falling to the ground just as the Heal spell had its full effect.

She was fully recovered by the time her ass hit the ground, her burnt skin healed, including the small cut on her tan forehead.

Completely healed.

I resumed my digging.

I found the massive pulsing heart, loving the behemoth’s shrieks as I prodded at it.

I was hungry.

So very hungry.

I lost sight of everything else and I began to eat.

Eat, and drink of the gushing blood pouring out of the holes I’d created. Barely even noticed when we were suddenly falling, nor paid any attention when we crashed into the cavern floor.

I was full by the time the massive heart stopped beating.

I climbed out of the enormous carcass.

Wren tackled me to the ground, both of us drenched in blood, her voice full of excitement.

“I love you, I love you!” she cheered. “I’m a monster! You’re a monster! Let’s mate, master!”

Her words gave me pause.

The thought of mating made me think of something else.

Seeing her face made me think of someone else.

And then, my attention shifted as I saw part of the wall beginning to crumble away, huge chunks of rock cracking and falling apart, revealing a nighttime sky high above in the distance, a dark forest of trees swaying in the breeze, the warm air drifting into the cavern and filling my nostrils with familiar scents.

Scents that swirled in my mind, bringing it back to old memories.

Memories of another girl.

With the exact same face.

Elizatay.

My Elizatay.

My Soulmate.

I shouldn’t have to feel helpless to do anything.

I wouldn’t have to feel helpless to do anything.

Not anymore.

I focused on Wren.

My lover.

My servant.

Speaking for the first time in this form.

My voice was the same.

Exactly the same.

And yet, it was more certain than ever before.

“I’ve decided on your second transformation. You will become a Balphor, and fly me to the capital. There, together, we will be monsters.”

Wren’s entire expression lit up in excitement, just before her face began warping, elongating, becoming more feline and yet also more canine, like the face of a furry mythical dragon. Her arms began growing webs, her fingers elongating, her body rapidly growing thick midnight fur, a tail springing from her lower back, rapidly becoming thick and furry…

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NEW SKILL: Transformation 2 (Balphor)

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Larger and larger she grew, until she finally stopped when she got a little bigger than a horse.

Not nearly as large as the creatures we’d just defeated.

Not even close.

So…

There were limitations on size.

But she was still big enough to carry me.

Only me.

It would be enough.

I leapt up and climbed on her back, gripping at the fur on the back of her elongated neck as I sat at her shoulders, much like a horse, her massive wings beginning to flap as she leapt for the opening in the Dungeon wall.

Just like that, with only two beats of her wings, we were out.

And then, just like that, we were soaring high in the night sky, each flap of her wings propelling us higher, propelling us further, the ground disappearing far away in the distance.

The frigid wind whipped at my short black hair, chilling my body to its core.

ADAPT activated.

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NEW SKILL: Cold Resistance

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My body became warm again.

Wren soared through the night sky.

My eyes were sharp.

So much sharper than ever before.

Yet, I couldn’t quite see all I wanted to see.

It was too dark down below.

I tried extremely hard to see.

And I kept trying, as hard as I could.

I wished to see.

I would see.

ADAPT activated.

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NEW SKILL: Nocturnal Vision

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I could see.

It took longer than I would have preferred, but all that I wanted to see, I could now see.

Because I was a monster.

And I would become an instrument of death.

And so we flew through the night sky, drawing closer and closer to our destination, the partially hidden moon occasionally reflecting in the waters of the lake on the northern side of the capital, the dark stone walls looking so small and insignificant from this height.

The even smaller guards like tiny ants beneath my midnight feet.

Recalling that we had a Gryphon to worry about, who might not identify us as allies, I scanned both the skies and the ground for the beast, seeing no signs of him.

Still, even though Wren and I were together a midnight form in the midnight sky, I knew elves had sharp eyes and ears. We would need to land a fair distance away and proceed on foot, so that they neither spotted us nor heard our approach, since there was no hiding the sound when Wren flapped her enormous wings.

There was also the blood to consider, dried now in the cold winds after well over an hour of flying, perhaps two hours, but still something that ought to be washed off.

Finally holding those wings still, the small Balphor began slowly gliding lower and lower to the western forest near a small stream, where we should be able to safely sneak around after washing off, easily scaling the massive walls on this side and invading the Royal Grounds on the northwestern side of the city.

A place I’d only been to once before, when brought before the Queen after healing a certain elf scout – the younger of two sisters. Just after I’d told a certain story to a Red Oni woman, overheard by a certain blonde elf, all of which was overheard by a certain purple woman.

Elves.

Sylvia and Alyssa.

The latter’s Eavesdrop Skill.

We would have to keep our words as ‘thoughts only’ in order to avoid Alyssa from overhearing anything we did not desire her overhear. Especially since her skill apparently classified me as an important person. Perhaps this was why.

Because I wasn’t just a normal human.

Not anymore, at least.

It didn’t take long for us to wash off, and then we were dashing at incredible speeds through the trees, the long run alone enough to fully dry us off.

Scaling the very high stone walls, Wren now in her elf form, we snuck over the edge and made our way back down, only to hide in some thick bushes as we focused on our hearing to begin getting an idea of our surroundings. There were numerous buildings within the Royal Grounds, many houses occupied by the nobles, the same people who plotted against her and attempted to steal away her throne.

I had no idea where Eliza might be held in this moment, but I wasn’t interested in finding her.

Instead, I desired to find the men who dared challenge her.

The name ‘Vizen,’ caught my attention two buildings down from where we were.

In complete sync, we silently dashed together to get closer, our keen ears focused on the soft footsteps of anyone nearby. The area was mostly empty though, at least on the outside. No doubt the gate to the area was guarded heavily, separating these grounds from the rest of the capital, and there were a ton of servants in the mansion we’d stumbled on. Possibly guards inside too.

‘Shall we kill?’ Wren thought eagerly.

‘No bloodshed,’ I responded seriously, my overall thoughts now full of plotting and thinking steps ahead, more similar to my normal self.

After all, there was only one way to kill without suspicion.

With curses.

So long as my secret was never publicly known, then they’d never believe a person could have been responsible for their deaths. Not if they perished from unexpected outbreaks of curses.

And my curse of choice?

It would have to be Plague.

Decay would be too unusual, especially when there wasn’t a Scourge Outbreak nearby.

But the Plague could spread even without a Dungeon Break, let alone a Scourge Outbreak.

So, Plague it would be.

Finding a slightly raised window, allowing fresh air to enter the room, I carefully raised the panes of glass all the way up, ensuring Wren got inside first, her tight slick ass briefly in my face, before I slid in silently, deciding to lower it again just to avoid someone becoming suspicious of our intrusion.

We were in what appeared to be a storeroom with a hearth and stacks of clean dishes, no doubt next to the kitchen where the evening’s dinner was prepared. It was very warm inside from the glowing coals in the hearth, the likely reason for the window being open a crack. Not that it would have been difficult to open it either way.

No one was around, as far as we could tell.

I listened closely.

Wren’s hearing seemed to be better than mine, due to skills she had that I didn’t yet possess. However, while we were flying, it actually took a decent amount of time to get my body to Adapt and learn Nocturnal Vision, time I didn’t have in this moment, and my current hearing was already sufficient enough for my goals.

“I’m so proud of him,” an older man was saying on the far right side of the house. “With this, we can finally make some real changes around here. He beat Lord Sezra by a full day. There’s no contest.”

“And what of the Queen?” another man asked. “General Vildred has claimed the look in her eyes is as strong as ever.”

The man hissed. “She’s not the Queen right now,” he snarled. “And the old fool is senile. She’s grown weak, anyone can see that.”

The other didn’t respond right away.

My attention shifted elsewhere, to someone else in the house, toward the left side.

A woman’s voice.

Sympathetic and worried.

“I hate to see him in this condition.”

“It’s the price to pay to be Ruler,” an older woman responded.

“I know,” the first replied, sighing heavily.

“Let the maidservants attend to him. You need to sleep. The trials are over, and he will recover. You can rest now.”

I suspected they were currently in the same location as my prey.

Far left.

I was about to move to action, only to realize someone was walking down the hall, the clattering of plates causing me to suspect they were coming to this room. Urgently looking around, concerned we wouldn’t have time to retreat out the closed window in time, I realized there was another door.

Opening it as quietly as possible, I saw it was a supply closet full of shelving.

The space was tight, and we’d be visible if the person opened it, but we were out of time.

Wren and I both crawled in, her in front of my crouched position, with me reaching over my shoulder to close the door, just as the other one opened to the room. Wren shifted her weight between my thighs, fitting her hips and ass against me perfectly, her small rear pressing into me. But I ignored her as I listened to the individual beginning to clean the dishes they’d brought in a bucket of water.

Wren continued to shift her weight, remaining completely quiet, but definitely not remaining still. I finally focused on her slender midnight back in the darkness when I realized I was beginning to feel a new sensation between my thighs.

One that was both familiar and different.

My cock.

I was getting hard.

But there was a lot of pressure, not caused by her.

Looking down between my thighs for the first time, realizing it was smooth between my naked midnight legs, I quickly realized what was going on, thankfully not panicking before figuring it out. I was like her now, and that meant I had the same muscles between my legs that people didn’t have. Muscles on either side of my cock that accompanied a meaty section of skin, all of which was firmly keeping my large cock and balls contained within something akin to a pouch.

Keeping me from being exposed, even though I wasn’t wearing any clothing.

Serving a purpose that was not entirely unlike my foreskin protecting the head of my cock.

Curious of this discovery, I allowed myself to feel the arousal Wren was causing, watching as my muscles relaxed on either side of my cock, revealing my gray member between the loosening sections, beginning to almost look like I was wearing black leather pants that now had an opening in the crotch.

I was still soft, and yet my cock was larger than I was used to.

Thicker.

Meatier.

Wren pressed into me again, catching the tip of it with her midnight asshole, abruptly pressing into me with surprising force, squishing her tight ass against me.

My member reacted in a way that would have been impossible for my human self.

Under normal circumstances, hardness was directly related to the length and size.

To get hard was to also get long and thick.

But this was completely different.

Instantly, despite still being small, my cock abruptly became as hard as a rock, the head shoving into her tight asshole, my length rapidly increasing way faster than I’d ever experienced in my entire life, thickening to more than double my old girth, stretching her ass, instantly locking her in place in the blink of an eye.

Just like that, my full length was as far as it would go, and Wren’s tense body was trembling as I impaled her, intense waves of both discomfort and pleasure shaking her body. One second I was soft, and the next second I was buried deep within her ass as far as possible.

And clearly, what she’d done to me just now was more than she’d expected.

More than she’d hoped.

Having no experience with men at all, and certainly not a male similar to her, especially since doppelgangers were normally female, this was all far more than she’d hoped for. She never thought she’d be able to get me to penetrate her so deeply anytime soon. To impale her so completely, to the point that she couldn’t free herself even if she wanted to.

My thick cock was hurting her ass, but that discomfort was filling her with pleasure as well.

Her breathing was growing heavy as she suffered with that overwhelming pleasure.

Her slim arms were shaking, her delicate shoulders tense, her head ducked, her shiny back ridiculously thin and sexy as she trembled between my thighs, her ass locked firmly in place.

The curved shape of her skinny torso, down to her shapely bony hips, was a completely mesmerizing sight. The touch of my shiny midnight skin against hers was intensely pleasurable.

And my head was swimming.

Beyond swimming, the maid on the other side of the door had almost completely been forgotten for a brief moment.

I was extremely relieved when the elf maidservant finally walked back out, but that only intensified the connection between the two of us, now truly alone.

There was an aggression within me, one that wanted to grab Wren’s delicate shoulders roughly, to shove her face to the ground firmly, and fuck her wild. A craving that both excited and scared her, silently begging me for it, even as anxiety and anticipation filled her trembling chest.

But then there was the logical part of me, that knew I had come here for a very specific purpose, and we didn’t have time to waste.

The pleasure was intense…

The need to cum in her ass was intense…

But I decided to turn it off.

My body reacted with inhuman speed.

My size rapidly decreased, the firmness of my gray member reduced, and no sooner had my cock slipped out of her stretched midnight asshole, some of my clear fluid clinging to her, than the muscular pouch between my legs was tensing up to hide my cock and balls again.

Bizarre.

So different.

Wren was still trembling, not regretting what she’d done, but needing a few seconds to recover. Her midnight asshole was gaping and throbbing, each pulse of the circular shiny black wrinkles tightening the opening more and more, until the hole was just large enough to stick a finger in.

I decided to make it clear what was expected of her now, to avoid this happening again.

‘No more of that tonight, okay? We have things to accomplish.’

‘Yes master,’ she thought, whimpering quietly out loud, still on her hands and knees, her ass finally closing up the rest of the way.

I waited a few more seconds for her to gather herself, opening the supply closet in order to hear more clearly throughout the rest of the house. As far as I could tell, there wasn’t much activity right now, likely due to the late hour.

However, on the far right side of the house, the two men were still speaking, the older one growing louder unexpectedly.

“Enough of this nonsense! She’s no longer the Queen!” the man snapped. “And once Lord Vizen becomes King, no doubt he’ll put her to work in that prized Red District of hers. She’ll be just a cheap whore anyone can pay to fuck!” He barked out a laugh. “Likely a free whore, bound with chains. I have no doubt there are many in the kingdom who will come enjoy the bitch who once stood at the pinnacle of power. She’ll live out the rest of her years covered in the seed of all the filth she has treated as equals, all these years. Bitch deserves worse! Execution would be too kind,” he chuckled.

Again, the other man didn’t respond right away.

And I felt nothing.

No anger, no hatred, no disgust…

Only focus.

I knew where my target was, to the left side of the house.

I decided to move to action.

It was important that no one see us, so we had to be careful.

No witnesses of the monsters roaming around.

Slipping into the hallway, with Wren just behind me, I saw someone rounding the corner down the hall on the left.

My curses couldn’t reach that far.

In a flash, with movements far faster than I was used to, I grabbed a decorative plate hanging on the wall, and quickly broke off a chunk in the blink of an eye, activating my spells.

‘Imbued Spell, Inflict Curse, Plague.’

I tossed the piece, hitting her in the arm just as she was about to turn.

She whimpered and collapsed to the ground, her flesh exploding into boils all over her body.

Unconscious, but not dead.

I’d need something stronger to kill a person.

She’d likely be found by morning and healed in time before it took her life.

For the maidservants and others, I didn’t mind that outcome, but for my prey, I had to ensure he died.

I knew what I had to do.

Sneaking down the hall, Wren seamlessly at my side at all times, I readied another chunk of the plate, even as she picked up the first piece, so that we didn’t leave any evidence behind. Technically, I could reuse the piece she held, but this also worked just as well.

Turning the corner and peeking down a short hall, which connected the two longer ones running parallel down this side of the house, both not seeing and hearing anyone nearby, we dashed to the next corner and peered around that as well.

Someone was just coming out of a doorway, a pair of elves, one looking as young as Eliza, while the other was showing signs of aging. I thought about inflicting them both with my curse, but decided it might cause problems if someone saw them lying in the hall.

The thought of which immediately prompted Wren to backtrack and grab the maid behind us to drag her down this short connecting hallway, out of sight. The boils under her armpits popped in response to Wren dragging her, but it only soaked the maid’s clothing, my companion setting her down before the ooze reached her midnight skin.

Being confident that there were two others in the room just opened, we snuck down the hallway, and carefully cracked it open.

Wren then accepted the plate as she handed me the first piece she’d picked up, with me casting my spells on both broken pieces, ready to use them.

‘Imbued Spell, Inflict Curse, Plague.’

Wren gently creaked open the door with her foot, even as I abruptly tossed both pieces in two totally different directions, hitting my marks with perfect aim.

Two elf maidservants collapsed with whimpers, their smooth skinny bodies exploding in boils, their faces becoming disfigured and unrecognizable. The condition was bad enough to require a Greater Healing be used on them, instead of just Heal. But they’d still likely survive.

We dashed into the room, Wren softly closing the door behind me, only for her to begin collecting up the shards of the plate I’d used.

I walked up to the man lying in bed, a little shocked to see that his exposed upper body was sliced up in crisscrossing cuts that didn’t leave a spot of his flesh untouched.

Very deep cuts.

Stuffed full of a green goo.

Fuck.

I’d forgotten about the cutting.

The cutting and whipping.

And that wasn’t even the hard part.

The salve being applied was the point at which most gave up.

His face was handsome. His jawline strong. I knew he had to be at least someone close in age to Eliza, probably about a century old, though only halfway through his lifespan.

He would have survived longer had he not found himself so…

So motivated.

So driven.

I wanted to wake him up.

I wanted him to know he was going to die.

I reached out and smacked his unblemished face with the back of my midnight hand.

He didn’t budge.

Didn’t react.

His breathing completely even.

Completely unconscious, after being forced to remain awake for three days.

And I couldn’t hurt him, in order to rouse him.

Couldn’t leave any signs behind that I had been here.

Sure, I could break a bone and then heal him, but that would also heal his cuts, which would reveal that at least a healer had been by. So no, I couldn’t do anything, other than what I intended.

It wasn’t ideal, but all that ultimately mattered was that he died.

I held out my hand, being close enough to use my spells without needing to Imbued it in an object, already knowing how I might modify my spell to kill him.

‘Inflict Curse, Plague, Severe.’

He groaned as his body exploded into boils, his handsome face rapidly becoming unrecognizable, his eyeballs beginning to bulge with swelling, his mouth beginning to seal shut, his nose becoming disfigured to the point of being nonfunctioning, until all his air was cut off.

His eyeballs ruptured and began leaking down the sides of his swollen face, just as he began to move a little, seeming to wake up after all, only for his body to grow still as I watched his last few heartbeats throb in his strained neck.

He was dead.

There was no recovering.

The elf maids on the floor might be saved, if found in time, but there was no healing him of this.

No reviving this corpse.

My apathy unexpectedly vanished briefly.

Intense hatred suddenly filled my heart.

My jaw was tense as I relished in his suffering for a few seconds, knowing the bastard was deserving of far worse. But then my apathy slowly returned, and I decided it was time to go. Ideally, I wanted to find the other candidate for the crown, who had lasted two days, though I was going to let him live, if possible. Assuming Eliza could at least last that long.

The reason?

One candidate’s death would be unfortunate.

But if the Plague only took their lives, the candidates, there would undoubtedly be suspicion. Technically, I could cause a massive outbreak and kill a lot more people.

However…

Eventually, I knew that I was going to admit to Eliza what I’d done.

Better to admit to one murder, maybe two, instead of dozens of innocents, in order to hide what I’d done. After all, these were her people, and she did care about them.

Of course, that meant Eliza would have to suffer at least two days, with this likely already being toward the end of the first.

I didn’t like the idea of her being forced to endure these Trials in the first place, but there was nothing I could do to free her at this point. Nothing I could do to help her. Sharing skills probably wouldn’t even be useful, since I was sure the pain helped keep her mind sharp. Helped her persevere.

Never mind the fact that she hadn’t requested any skills from me at all, via our Soulmate bond.

Likely because she needed the pain to focus.

Which meant, all I could do was remove her competition, to ensure she did reclaim the throne, in the event she couldn’t make it beyond two days, though I felt confident she’d last at least that long.

Still, I would find this second man, nonetheless.

Perhaps plan an unfortunate accident, if it became necessary.

Wren and I snuck out of the house the way we came, putting the broken plate in the bucket of water prior to leaving, to look like an accident, beginning to sneak from mansion to mansion, peering in windows and listening to random conversations, for any signs of the second candidate. We were unsuccessful for a long time, perhaps a few hours, but eventually we found him.

He also looked younger, leaving me with zero idea as to how old he truly was.

Could have been as old as Eliza, at a hundred and twenty – middle-aged for an elf – or as young as me, at twenty-one.

Difficult to tell with most elves.

Alyssa, the purple dark elf, was only twenty-five, and yet the sisters, Astaer and Celestine, looked the same youthful age even though they were basically twice as old as the former, being forty-eight and forty-seven, respectively. Eliza was of course double their age, and while she did look like a mature woman, she still had a youthful appearance.

However, after observing the second candidate’s room for a while, doing nothing except watching for at least an hour, the unexpected happened.

While I was peering through the window to his room, I suddenly saw someone I recognized.

A tall thin elf woman with rich brown hair, suntanned skin, and deep blue eyes.

Astaer.

My eyes widened in shock as I watched her slip into the room, her expression neutral, seeming completely at home within the bedroom she now resided.

Beyond shocked, I was horrified even.

I felt betrayed.

Why was she here?

Fuck.

Why was she sitting on the edge of his bed?

Dammit!

Why were tears beginning to appear in her blue eyes?

Fucking dammit!

Why was she readjusting his pillows, and…

My eyes widened again in complete disbelief when she carefully placed a pillow over the man’s face and pressed down firmly. Tears slipping down her cheeks, her body tense, her arms trembling, she put all her weight into suffocating the man.

Oh my God.

She was committing an assassination.

And she wasn’t even trying to hide it.

I could hear someone walking down the hallway.

She’d be found out.

She’d be put to death for what she was doing.

And yet, she was doing it anyway.

Perhaps feeling like she was deserving of the punishment for her actions.

Actions done…out of loyalty to the Queen.

And perhaps also…out of loyalty to me…

Moving to action, Wren and I were perfectly in sync, with me ducking down out of sight as she began tapping urgently on the window.

Astaer jumped away in a panic, only for both her hands to slam over her mouth when she saw Wren’s crimson eyes, with it clearly taking a second for her body to catch up to her brain. She then turned her head when she heard the individual in the hallway, and quickly readjusted the pillow she’d been using to try to suffocate the man.

A man who was so exhausted after two days of suffering the Trial of Resolve that he didn’t even seem to notice.

The elf scout sounded mostly calm when the woman walked in and spoke to her.

“Oh Astaer,” she said in surprise. “Riss mentioned you’d come to visit. I couldn’t believe it.”

Astaer laughed uneasily, sitting back down on the bed. “Umm, yeah,” she managed, sounding out of breath from the fright. “I had to visit when I heard.”

“That’s so thoughtful of you,” the woman replied sincerely. “Though I fear he wasn’t successful.”

“Umm, yeah, I know,” she admitted.

My eyes widened again, realizing that if she knew Lord Vizen was the forerunner, then her actions were only because she believed both men would die this night, since killing this man would be pointless, unless Vizen was dead too. Perhaps that was what her younger sister Celestine was doing right now, visiting the other household, possibly just now discovering that the man she intended to kill was already dead.

Astaer continued. “But, umm…figured, umm, I mean…thought maybe he’d want some company. Something positive to wake up to.”

The woman gasped. “You mean?”

“I…I haven’t fully decided, but thought that he’d at least be happy to see my face.”

“Of course, of course,” the woman replied, only for it to sound like she gave her a big hug. “I’m so happy you visited. I’ll give you some time alone with him, okay?”

“T-Thanks,” Astaer replied.

The woman left the room.

Astaer snuck over to the window, still flinching when she focused down at the red-eyed elf crouching below, despite no doubt expecting the sight, Astaer not catching sight of me since I was hiding in a patch of nearby bushes.

“What are you doing here?” she said in shock.

“Don’t kill him,” Wren hissed. “If the Queen doesn’t last at least two days, then I’ll take care of it.”

Astaer gulped. “Allie sent you.”

“Let’s not speak of it,” Wren retorted, surprising even me with how she was handling this, having only my vague intentions to go on. “Have your visit, and then leave him be, okay?”

Astaer swallowed audibly and then nodded. “T-Thank you.”

Wren’s tone was hard. “You would have been executed.”

Her eyes pained. “I…I know.”

“Your sister?”

“She…She doesn’t know. Figured it would be easier to take care of him first, since I’m welcome here. And then sneak out the window and visit…” Her voice trailed off.

I was again surprised.

So…Celestine wasn’t in on it after all.

Astaer was truly being a martyr, a sacrificial lamb for the Queen.

“Why?” Wren asked for me.

“She’s always been wonderful to me…” She took a shaky breath, her blue eyes filling with tears. “And he…he saved my baby sister. It’s the least I can do. For them both.”

Damn…

I honestly couldn’t believe what I was hearing.

I had no idea how she truly felt.

I decided to deliver a message through Wren.

She parroted my words. “Leave this kind of thing to me. You can repay him by staying by the Queen’s side throughout this process and keeping her safe. Okay?”

Astaer sniffled. “Okay.”

“Then bye for now,” Wren replied simply, dashing away further than I was, to throw Astaer off as the demon elf rounded the corner of the mansion.

Astaer stared after her for a long few seconds, leaning out of the window, before finally closing it again. She then went to sit on the edge of the bed, not saying or doing anything for a long time, only sniffling occasionally, the man’s breathing even as he slept.

Given that she knew the guy, I suspected she had a lot of complicated feelings about what she’d been intending on doing. Probably a lot of guilt, among other things. Especially if she was welcome here, and this was a man who had perhaps proposed to her at one point in time. A man who was still waiting and hoping for her ‘yes,’ being completely unaware that her loyalties were elsewhere.

Loyalties strong enough to kill for.

Astaer then got up, once she’d collected herself, went out to make some small chitchat with the woman she’d been talking to previously, only to leave for the night, walking hurriedly to the castle, perhaps to do as I’d asked through Wren.

To be by the Queen’s side.

To keep Eliza safe while I was unable to.

I definitely had feelings for Astaer, but this…

This really took everything to a whole new level.

It was no small thing for her to do what she’d been plotting, and despite the fact that she’d almost been caught the first time, I suspected she would have done what was necessary to accomplish her goals. Including a few extra deaths, if truly required of her.

All for the Queen.

And all for me.

Afterward, Wren and I snuck around the Royal Grounds a little longer, getting more familiar with the general layout of the area, with there being multiple large sections separated by wide stone stairs, due to the area having been built on the western hill next to the northern lake, though I was well aware there were rooms beneath the ground.

Castle dungeons that I’d never explored.

During that time, I did consider trying to find and spy on General Vildred, but ultimately figured there was no point.

After all, it wasn’t as if he had challenged Eliza for the throne, and Eliza at least trusted him, so there was that. No doubt, he was probably the person running things right now, which meant he might be difficult to find anyway, perhaps swamped with paperwork and other tasks. Or perhaps just asleep at this late hour.

Hard to know, considering we couldn’t find him, but I honestly had no reason to have an issue with the guy, or to even be concerned about it.

If anything, seemed like everyone respected him, including the Queen.

Not to mention, I had reason to want to leave the area soon.

A reason for why Wren and I finally departed by scurrying over the western wall again…

To return to Mel and Val…

Partially because I wanted to ensure I wouldn’t be a suspect, with me planning on our group arriving back at the castle in the next day or two, after having ‘conquered’ our most recent Dungeon, returning with our report, as if all was business as usual.

And also partially because…

I had things…

Things…that I needed to apologize for.

Kind of ‘big things.’

Like hitting Val in the head with a piece of bone, even if I overall had good intentions, including healing her of the burns caused by Mel’s fire.

In truth, when I had first transformed, I was mostly instinct and action, with basically zero conscience, drunk on the overwhelming power I felt in this new body. However, as time passed, and the longer I used my mind to think and make decisions – ones that were reminiscent of my human self – the more my conscience began to return too.

The less I felt like a monster, even if I still very much looked like one.

So yeah…

We needed to go back.

And I needed to sincerely apologize, hoping I hadn’t broken Val’s trust forever.

A thought that really made my heart hurt.

Dammit.

However, no sooner had we gotten to the bottom of the capital walls, than the screaming finally started.

First a shriek of horror, no doubt at finding a diseased body, followed by more screams, and then even more wailing, immediately followed by a multitude of yelling and shouting into the night.

Damn, we were leaving just in time.

Dashing into the western forest, we decided to run the entire way back, partially because Wren truly preferred her current form.

And she was overall just having too much fun now, the capital long forgotten already.

Enjoying my company in her elf body.

The two of us monsters…

Together.

Terrorizing the wildlife as we ghosted through the darkness at inhuman speeds.

Together.

Wren couldn’t be happier.

And her happiness was infectious.

Perhaps we would mate this night, after all.

Perhaps.

FEEDBACK: Okay, a lot going on in this chapter.

1. What did you think about General Vildred's section? Obviously he's a villain hiding out in plain slight. The kind of guy who is pretty evil, but who doesn't view himself as evil at all, and puts on a good front. Everyone thinks he is great, etc.

However, is all of that communicated well enough? I was attempted to explain why Allister wouldn't bother checking on him, since he obviously doesn't know that Vildred is kind of a bad guy. And honestly, the General is one of those bad guys with principles. He adheres to a code, adheres to their laws, but that adherence gives him a sense of 'rightness' so long as he is following those rules.

2. Thoughts on Allister's first few hours as a 'heartless' monster?

3. What do you think of his new body? Specifically his crotch pouch, LOL. (Only when transformed.)

4. Thoughts on him and Wren having their first 'kind of' sexual experience? Which was cut short, since he had other things to be concerned with. (Side note: They will NOT be 'mating' next chapter, and their first real sexual experience won't be for a while longer. It will also be extremely wholesome when it does happen.)

General idea of this experience was that Wren was pushing for it, and she ended up getting a bit more than she was mentally prepared to handle.

5. Thoughts on Vizen's death? It was meant to be a bit gruesome. And obviously, I was aiming for you guys to find it some cathartic, given the potential 'plans' he might have Eliza, should he win the throne.

6. What did you think about Astaer showing up at the second guy's house? Were you shocked, or did you anticipate why she might be there?

>> I know I ask this every time, but it's only because super important. <<

So if you haven't already, please don't forget to leave a rating on Book 1 of Combat Healer (on Amazon), even if you don't plan on buying it (just say you read it on Patreon).

And if you have, then thank you!

Ratings on Book 1 are especially important, since Book 1 ratings determine whether or not someone will even check out the entire series. Thanks!

Chapter 30 >>

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